08 December 2020 12:14

Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk announced the results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 for Turkey. The Ministry of National Education shared the detailed assessment report prepared by the Deputy Minister Mahmut Özer about the results of TIMSS 2019.

TIMSS is an international study conducted by the International Education Assessment Institution (IEA) every four years. TIMMS makes an assessment of the success of the 4th and 8th grade students in mathematics and science.

Turkey has been participating in the TIMMS since 1999. In 2019, 58 countries attended in 4th grade level and 39 countries in 8th grade level in 2019. Compared to previous years, Turkey showed the highest performance in 2019.

Compared to 2015, TIMSS Points Up

Turkey's average point in 4th grade mathematics which was 483 in 2015 rose to 523 in 2019. Turkey's 4th grade science which was 483 rose to 528. In a similar way, Turkey's 8th grade mathematics point which was 458 in 2015 rose to 496 and the 8th grade science point which was 493 rose to 515 in 2019

Comparison of Turkey's TIMSS Performance

For the first time, points are above average

According to the TIMSS 2019 results, for the first time Turkey ranked above average score (500 points) which is accepted as the fixed success measure in the 4th grade level. In 8th grade level, Turkey ranked above the average in science and reached the average in mathematics.

Turkey ranks higher

Although, number of countries participating in the TIMSS 2019 study increased, Turkey ranked higher in the list of countries at all levels.

In 2015, Turkey ranked 36th in 4th grade mathematics level mathematics among 49 countries and in 2019 Turkey ranked 23th among 58 countries.

Turkey which ranked 35th among 47 countries in 4th grade science level in 2015 managed to rank 19th among 58 countries in 2019.

Turkey's ranking in 8th grade mathematics level was 24 in 2014 and it rose to 20 in 2019. Turkey which ranked 21 in 8th grade science in 2015 achieved to rank 15 in 2019.

Comparison of Turkey's TIMSS Ranking

Ratio of Students in Higher and Advanced Competence Levels Increased

Competence levels in mathematics and science for 4th and 8th grade students are measured in different scales. When current results are compared with the results of TIMSS 2015 study, it can be seen that there is a significant rise in the number of students in higher and advanced competence levels. This rise reveals important improvement stage in Turkey.

Ratio of Students in Higher Competence Level in Turkey

Ratio of Students in Higher Competence Level in Turkey

Performance improvement spread to all regions of Turkey

Improvement in Turkey's success in TIMSS 2019 was achieved as a result of a rise in the performance of students from different regions of the country. Student performance increased in both grades in all regions of Turkey. This result reveals that improvement in education is not limited with only certain parts but spread to all regions.

Improvement in the success assessment increases

TIMSS 2019 results revealed that gradual increase in Turkey's performance in the international success assessment studies. There has been an important increase in Turkey's performance according to the results of PISA 2018.  According to PISA 2018, Turkey significantly increased its success in reading, mathematics and science and ranked among prominent countries. In addition to its success in PISA based on literacy skills, Turkey also increased its performance in the TIMSS study. In other words, Turkey increased its success according to two respected studies that evaluate the success of students according to different criteria.

Click to see the report.